Quality Foods expands presence in Greater Victoria
Vancouver Island chain Quality Foods will open its 13th store on Tuesday.
The new location is in Vancouver Island's View Royal neighbourhood in the north end of B.C.'s provincial capital.
"There is nothing up here grocery-wise," the company's marketing director, Rob MacKay, told Canadian Grocer this week. "It should be a great location for us because it's a fast-growing residential area with good median income."
The 45,000-sq.-ft. store is Quality Food's second store in the Victoria area. The first opened two years ago in the nearby neighbourhood of Langford.
According to MacKay, the new store will be the chain's biggest yet, but will feature many of the same design features and offerings Quality Foods is known for.
READ: Quality Foods opens first store in Victoria
One of Quality Foods' unique features includes an Island Smokehouse, where pulled pork and beef briskets are cooked in the store.
A mezzanine will be home to its signature store-within-a-store concept, A Step Above. It stocks kitchen, home decor and giftware items for foodies, including Emma Bridgewater mugs, personalized gifts and teapots.
Founded in 1982 by Ken Schley, Noel Hayward and John Briuolo, Quality Foods began as a Qualicum Foods in a shuttered SuperValu store in the town of Qualicum Beach on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
From the get-go, the trio focused on customer service, innovative store design, and strong relations with national brands.
READ: Quality Foods sets sights on Victoria with new stores
"We've always gone out of our way to
“The Quality Foods story is a fantastic tale of inspiration, perseverance and collaboration between partners,” CFIG president and CEO Tom Barlow told Canadian Grocer this week.
According to Barlow, Schley, Hayward, Briuolo and their employees consistently amaze industry insiders with their ability to please customers.
"It's not just the uniqueness of their long partnership, which is unique in any retail industry," said Barlow. "It's how they have managed to stay forward looking and not get caught up in the daily grind of running their operations. They continue to think and search for ways to provide consumers with fair value and quality product offerings."